Helicobacter Pylori (H. Pylori)
What is Helicobacter Pylori (H. Pylori)?
- Helicobacter Pylori is a bacterium (germ) that can infect the human stomach. The bacterium lives in the lining of the stomach, and the chemicals it makes inflame the stomach lining. Infection is lifelong unless it is treated with medication to remove the bacterium. There are often no symptoms of the infection, but treating it lowers your risk of other more severe health problems.
What symptoms does Helicobacter Pylori infection cause?
Most people have the disease and don’t know it and will never have symptoms.
It’s not clear why some people have no symptoms and others do, and these include:
- Nausea
- An achiness or burning pain in the stomach
- Stomach pain that gets worse on an empty stomach
- Weight loss that is not intentional
- Burping or belching
- Not feeling hungry
- Another red flag that the bacteria is present is black stools or black vomit that looks like coffee grounds – this symptom needs urgent attention and is also linked to ulcers, gastritis and stomach cancer.
How is Helicobacter Pylori diagnosed?
- H.pylori is diagnosed through tests such as breath, blood, and stool tests.
What happens if Helicobacter Pylori is left untreated?
Long-term infection with Helicobacter Pylori can lead to:
- Asymptomatic chronic gastritis (which is often picked up in a routine gastroscopy)
- Chronic dyspepsia (indigestion)
- Duodenal ulcer (pain improves after meals, more common than gastric ulcers)
- Peptic Ulcer (pain worsens after meals)
- Gastric malignancy (stomach cancer)
- Lymphoma (rare)
How do I know if the treatment for Helicobacter Pylori has worked?
- Dr Zarghom will arrange a stool test or breath test after triple therapy to confirm the infection has cleared up.
